The Price of Popularity
by Genericktag
Summary: A simple mission leaves Pendles in a bizarre situation and gives Alani an opportunity to prove herself to the other Battleborn.
1. Breaking the Cult

Note: This story is in continuity with _Members of Polite Society._ There are a few references to _Society,_ but otherwise it can be read standalone.

* * *

The Rogues's quarters on the Nova were quiet, as only one member of the faction was currently on the ship. Pendles, the snake-like Roan assassin, was making the last few preparations on his gear before his final mission briefing from Ghalt and Mellka. He examined his kamas. The blade on the first one was sharp, as was the beak on the one made from the Aviant's skull, it's single remaining eye blinking up at him every few seconds. Even after all these years, Pendles was still curious about how it did that. Everything was in perfect working order as usual. It was just another detail that evidenced the pride he took in his work. Satisfied, Pendles left his room and began to amble along toward the bridge until he heard someone call out from behind him.

"Hey! Pendles, wait up! Wait for me!"

Pendles turned around and saw Alani the water monk approaching him, hastily applying lip balm as she did. She came up alongside him and they started walking together.

"I thought you were going to that party at Phoebe's," she said.

He gave a small shrug. "I was just about to when Ghalt called. The party would have been fun, but, you know, business before pleasure and all. Besides those guys deserve a break. Whiskey Foxtrot was really looking forward to his date night with Deande."

Alani looked surprised. "You mean Deande still went too? I thought this mission would be right up her alley. The message about it had the word stealth all underlined and italicized."

"It would be," Pendles agreed. "But I promised her I could take care of all the sneaky stuff just fine. She did think this would be a good opportunity to gain some political points, so it took some convincing."

"She should be happy, some of us never get invited to parties. But hey, we'll have some fun on the mission right! Maybe Galilea will be on it with us!" Alani said.

"You know, you've been mentioning her a lot lately. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a bit of a crush on her, love."

Alani blushed. "No! No. It's just, you know, she's Helician, and I'm part Helician. We have some common ground and I just thought she might be a good person to make friends with."

Pendles smiled a toothy grin. "If you say so."

The two made their way up to the bridge to find Ghalt, Mellka, and a partial collection of the other Battleborn not currently on leave.

"Alright everyone," Ghalt announced. "We've got an important mission that's about to go down on Tempest today. Some of Deande's sources have caught wind of a former supporter of Rendain who's been gaining momentum among some left over Jennerit fanatics. He goes by the name Adalric Kade and he's been gaining a cult of followers by claiming that he's been Sustained. Of course, Ambra has assured me that is not the case. He's gotten brave enough that he's going to be having a rally for his followers today, so it's a good opportunity to knock him down a few pegs."

"He'll be in the city square of one of Tempest's more prosperous neighborhoods, which means that he'll be wide open for the first time," said Mellka, taking over. "We know he's got his hands on a whole bunchload of minions recently, so there will most likely be some security detail. Preferably we'll be able to sneak through and get him during his speech to show his followers that he doesn't have the power he says he does. That's where you come in Pendles. We want you to get close to him and take him out where everyone can see it."

"You're talking to the right man for the job." Pendles assured her.

"But we have to plan for any contingencies," Ghalt continued. "We'll get Thorn in position to snipe him with her bow if all else fails. Oscar Mike's got a stealth generator built into his equipment. He can get in unseen and clear out any minions if necessary."

"All right! Another mission with my bros!" Oscar Mike called out.

"Alani has volunteered to back you guys up and will be there for support in case things go south. We're running a four person team today. Any questions?"

Ghalt paused, and was met with a moment of silence.

"Good. Away team, get ready to ship out. Mellka, Nova and I will be dropping you just outside the city limits. From there we'll be in contact, but keeping our distance. We don't want the target getting nervous. Good luck!"

The ship touched down on the planet shortly thereafter, and the four Battleborn made their way to the edge of town quickly and without incident. Tempest had a perpetually dark atmosphere about it. Each of its cities was a cluster of gothic towers and houses, everything coloured black with sharp lines of crimson red. Adalric was highborn but not necessarily high ranking within Jennerit society, and unlike Rendain and his underlings had little access to any of the heavier equipment that the team had faced during the fight to save Solus. It was unlikely that he would have the ability to pick up on their prescence remotely, and a few minion security bots wouldn't pose much of a threat. The greatest danger would depend on how large and fervent the gathered crowd of supporters would be, thus the need for the quiet and quick hit-and-run tactics of the mission. A yellow diamond blinked up on each of the Battleborn's holo-maps, followed by Ghalt's voice over the coms.

"The marker on your map is over the city centre. That's where Kade will be setting up for his big speech extolling the virtues of Rendain. Thorn, take Alani and find a position where you can see everything go down. Pendles and Oscar, find a way to get close to the stage without being seen."

The team acknowledged their orders and began to make their way through the city streets. There was no one around. Probably most citizens who weren't at the rally were afraid of those who were, and had elected to stay inside to avoid it.

Just outside the town square, Thorn pointed up to one of the tall, spire-capped towers that seemed to be so popular with Jennerit architects.

"That tower," she said. "There's a sniper robot up there."

The rest of the team craned their necks up to look where the ranger was pointing. Sure enough, the telltale red laser of an MX Deadeye was swiveling back and forth, emanating from the top of the tower.

"It must have a view of the whole square from up there. Looks like they picked out my spot for me." Thorn said. She nodded towards Pendles and Oscar Mike. "I'll go handle it. Wait here."

She took off running towards the tower. Alani stood with Oscar and Pendles for a second before suddenly remembering that she was supposed to be sticking with Thorn and chasing after her. Thorn got to the base of the tower unseen, but Alani's hesitation cost her. The laser swung her way as she approached and the Deadeye locked on to her. She swore and dove around the side of the nearest building as the sniper's round struck the ground where she had been standing a moment before. She took a chance and peered back around the corner. Thorn was nowhere to be seen, and the Deadeye was lining up another shot, apparently waiting to get another glimpse of Alani. It saw her and took aim, but never got a chance to fire a second time. A volley of arrows suddenly skewered it from behind and a figure, undoubtedly Thorn, joined the malfunctioning form of the Deadeye at the top of the tower. She gave the robot a casual kick and it fell backwards, plunging down and smashing onto the street below. Once the threat was neutralized, her voice came over the coms.

"I've got a good view from up here. Kade's got a large crowd of Jennerit fools gathered, but it shouldn't be any trouble for you to sneak by them. Alani can join me up here if she's ready."

Alani rushed over to the base of the tower, embarrassed at having been caught by the Deadeye that Thorn had taken down so easily. She entered the ground floor and looked up to see a long staircase spiraling up along the walls. Hurriedly, she began to climb as Pendles asked Thorn for some intel.

"What's this town square look like from up there?"

"Like a big courtyard," she answered. "The crowd's gathered at the foot of a stage that's set up at the far end from where you'll be coming in. Our target's not there yet."

"Alright, I'm going to cloak and move in now to wait for him. Hey Oscar, keep me covered, mate."

"Roger that, bro!" Oscar Mike acknowledged.

By this time Alani had made her way up the stairs and had joined Thorn on the tower balcony, peering over the ranger's shoulder. The town "square," she noted, was really more of a rectangle and, just as Thorn had described, at the end furthest from them sat a small stage with a podium. A crowd of about a hundred Jennerit, including a few thralls, had gathered in front of it.

"Alright," said Pendles. "I'm almost at the stage. I'm going radio silent from here on."

"So what now?" Alani asked Thorn. "We just wait for him to show up?"

"Yes."

"Oh. OK then."

For a few minutes the two Eldrid sat in a silence that Alani found rather uncomfortable. She tried to occupy herself with twiddling her thumbs but, to her chagrin, found it difficult thanks to her webbed fingers. After about two minutes of failing to perform this simple feat of dexterity, she finally gave up and looked over to Thorn.

"Sooooo...Thorn. You and Montana have a book club going on, right?"

"Yes."

"Are you, um, accepting new members?"

Thorn remained motionless, except for the split second glance she gave Alani from the corner of her eye.

"The first rule of book club," she said, "is know the appropriate times to talk about book club."

"Oh," Alani said, feeling her face heat up with embarrassment. It didn't help that she could hear Pendles quietly snickering at her over the coms. "OK. Sorry."

"Hey guys," said Oscar Mike. "I think I see the bad guy coming."

"You're right," Thorn said. Kade had appeared from one of the alleys that connected with the town square, shoving a set of cue cards under his robes and trying to make sure no one noticed him. "He's approaching the stage. He's got two robots with him. Strikers."

"Leave the bots to me!" Oscar Mike called. "I'm just going to STEALTH my way over there now! Real quietly! I'll be ready when you are, snake man!"

Pendles didn't answer, probably because he was already right at Kade's back as he climbed the stairs to the stage and made his way towards the podium. A loud cheer erupted from the crowd that had come to hear him, and he waved as he stepped up behind the microphone. Eventually the wave turned into the universal 'enough cheering, bring down the volume' motion, and gradually the noise of the crowd subsided. Finally, Adalric Kade, the dangerous insurgent, began his speech.

"My fellow Jennerit, my valued Thrall friends, and...uhhhh, my other...subjects," he trailed off. He fumbled around in his red and silver robes for one of the cue cards but ended up dropping the whole stack on the ground.

"Ugggh," Thorn groaned. "Can't we ever have an enemy that's not a complete moron?"

Kade gathered up his cards from where they had fallen on the stage, straightened up, and turned back around to face his audience. He glanced down at his recovered notes, and then continued his speech.

"The High Commander Lothar Rendain granted me Sustainment shortly before his untimely passing. Like, very shortly before, and no one still alive was around to see it so don't bother asking."

"Wait," Alani piped up again. "I thought only the Silent Sisters could perform the Sustainment ceremony. And I thought all the Jennerit knew that. Do these people just believe everything this guy says?"

"An idiot talking to a mob of idiots," Thorn commented.

Meanwhile, Kade was finally beginning to gain some confidence in his role as a public speaker.

"You, the Imperium loyalists, have turned to me as a beacon of hope in a dark time," he continued. "The treasonous former Spymistriss Deande has taken control of those of us who are too blind to see the truth. Those who don't understand the immortality Rendain was seeking for the Jennerit people. I will carry on in his footsteps! I will sustain our race as I have been Sustained, and bring death to traitors like Deande and all who stand in our way!"

Kade paused for effect, closing his eyes and raising his hands out in front of him. He was met with nothing but silence from the crowd.

"Um. Please clap." He said. His request went ungranted, and he finally opened his eyes. In front of him the crowd was wide-eyed and, in some cases, slack-jawed, staring at something just over his shoulder. He spun on his heel and came face to grinning face with the recently uncloaked Pendles.

"'Ello mate! Congratulations! You've been selected to be the next victim of Executive Executions!"

Pendles's kamas criss-crossed at Kade's throat, and in an instant the cult leader's head had been separated from his body. The Strikers had been remarkably slow to process what was going on, and only now turned their guns on him. In a flash of toxic mist, Pendles blinded the bots and disappeared from sight.

 _Shoomp!_

Oscar Mike took the opportunity to launch a grenade from his assault rifle. It arced over the heads of the crowd and landed in between the two blinded minions, where it exploded into several smaller grenades, which in turn exploded directly under the minions feet. In seconds, Adalric Kade had gone from delivering a passionate speech to a rapt audience, to having his head removed from his shoulders and the entirety of his (admittedly meagre) security force destroyed in front of their eyes. The confused crowd stood there blinking at each other, unsure of what they should do next.

Mellka's voice greeted the Battleborn over their coms.

"Alright everyone, I think we've made our point. Head to the rendezvous point back outside of town and we'll pick you up shortly. Mellka out."

Thorn got up from her sniping position, scoffing. "So that is what Rendain's legacy has to offer? It is shameful."

"I didn't even really get to do anything on this mission. I kind of feel like I wasn't even needed." Alani said.

"You weren't," Thorn replied. She rudely brushed past Alani with her shoulder and made for the stairs back down to street level. Alani looked down at her feet and made to follow, but was suddenly stopped dead in her tracks by a sound rising up from below the tower.

"Oi? Is this mic still live? Excellent!" It was Pendles's voice. Alani rushed back out to the balcony and looked out into the square. Pendles was visible again, on stage and adjusting the microphone at the podium to suit his height.

"'Ello everyone! I'm Pendles, from Executive Executions!"

Alani could feel Thorn seething as the ranger came back up behind her. "What is he doing?" she growled.

"Are you tired of cult leaders who lie to you about their Sustainment status and take your money? Are you sick of falling for the same sort of cons that every evil maniac tries to pull on you? Well I have a solution for that! As you've just seen, no other assassination service provides the same sort of quality kills that you can expect from Executive Executions, time and time again. So the next time you find yourself falling under the spell of a power hungry dictator's cult of personality, just remember to give your friend Pendles a call first!"

At first everyone, Battleborn and Imperium Loyalists alike, all stood in silent astonishment. Then, slowly and quietly at first, a chant began to rise up.

"Pendles! Pendles! Pendles! Pendles!"

"Wow," said Pendles. "That was quite an effective advertisement. I'll have to record that one."

Several members of the mob advanced on the stage, continuing to chant Pendles's name as they did so. They lifted the Roan assassin onto their shoulders as the rest of the group cheered.

"So, uh, guys," said Oscar Mike over the coms. "Is this going to be a problem, or..."


	2. Conflicting Interests

Ghalt stood just outside the door of the bridge and took a deep breath. The past 24 hours had been stressful to say the least, and he was beginning to wonder if the pressure of being the Captain of a motley crew tasked with saving the entire universe was finally starting to get to him. A member of said crew going AWOL certainly wasn't helping. Pendles wasn't exactly the most trusted of the Battleborn to begin with, and his disappearance had begun to cause some tension. Before any extreme arguments could break out, Ghalt had scheduled a meeting to discuss the issue; and anyone who thought they could suggest a constructive solution was invited to meet him on the bridge for a discussion. He had almost finished collecting his thoughts when he was startled by the sudden appearance of Nova's hologram in front of him.

"You are currently five minutes late for your own meeting, Captain" she said.

"I know, Nova. I'll be ready in a minute."

Nova flickered. "Benedict showed up. He's already started talking."

"Oh, damn it!"

Ghalt pushed a button and the door to the bridge slid open. All eyes in the room turned on him, except for Deande, who seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. Benedict was on his feet, holding a pamphlet in his hand. On its cover was a picture of Pendles, flashing his trademark toothy grin. Ghalt had already read the pamphlet himself, which claimed that Pendles had seen the error of his ways, turned his back on the "interplanetary terrorist organization known as the Battleborn," and offered his services in the name of Rendain. Whatever Benedict had said had made Reyna extremely angry. Ambra was there, sitting with her arms crossed. Alani was sitting as far away from Ambra as she could, and the meeting was rounded out by Mellka and Thorn, who appeared to have been in the middle of their own discussion.

"Captain!" Benedict said. "I warned you we had to be careful of that Roa. And I'm not saying I told you so, but-"

"What are you even doing here, Benedict?" Reyna interrupted. "This meeting is for those of us who have ideas for how to save Pendles-"

"Save him?" Benedict guffawed. "He don't need to be saved. He needs to be taken out!"

Now Reyna was on her feet. "Excuse me?"

"Have you seen these pamphlets? They're all over the slums and some are showing up in Echelon! And why haven't we been able to contact him over his coms?"

"So you're suggesting that one of my people would turn on us? Why don't you just come out and say it so I can kick your ass right now!"

"Your people?" Benedict scoffed, pointing a talon at her. "You mean one of your gang of punk kids, criminals and psychopaths? Now what reason could I possibly have-"

"Benedict!" Ghalt said. "If you have any accusations to make against the rest of the Rogues, you'd better be able to back them up!"

Benedict shut up for a moment, then looked back at Reyna.

"Look, I...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. But do you honestly think that Pendles is loyal to you? Or is it just whatever you've been paying him? For once I'm not just running my mouth here. I've seen for myself how he operates and I've never trusted him."

"You can't actually think that sending a hit squad against one of our own is a good idea." Reyna said. "Look, I'll take a few people in, we'll get Pendles out-"

"I'm afraid it's not that easy." Deande spoke up. "I'm sorry Reyna, but I have to insist on taking this out of your hands. If Pendles is a hostage, Kade's people will eliminate him the second they see any of the Rogues coming. Furthermore, this group is Jennerit in origin and affects the Jennerit first. And as Ambra has so kindly reminded me, if I had been here for the mission myself, as I should have been, we would not be in this situation."

"Are you sure?" Ghalt asked. "Sending in your forces to wipe out a small fringe group may send a bad message to the public. That's why we went in quietly last time."

"There are still many among the Jennerit who value power and force above all else, Captain." said Deande. "I'm afraid this may be my only option at the moment."

There was a brief lull in the conversation. Sending in a fully armed set of Jennerit troops was a heavy prospect.

"Send me in." Alani said suddenly.

"What?" said Deande. "I don't think you understand. I'm talking about using Jennerit soldiers, not any of us."

Alani sighed. "Just hear me out, please. Pendles and I are the last survivors from Akopos, I know him better than anyone. He can be a jerk and he might enjoy his work a bit too much, but I know he's no traitor. Let me go in alone-"

"Alone!" said Thorn. "You? You can't even wear a pair of pants properly. What happens if they have another Deadeye? The last one nearly put a hole through your head!"

"That...was a momentary lapse in concentration." Alani said with a bit of heat rising to her cheeks. "Besides, you saw what happened. Those people were cheering for Pendles! If he's really in control of them, he'll let me in and I can talk some sense into him. And if he's being held hostage or...something else...then I can report back to you and Deande can go ahead with her plan. Just give me a chance."

"I think it's a better idea than sending in a strike force straight away." Mellka said. "But I don't like sending you in without backup either. Are you sure you're up for this by yourself?"

"The girl is quite capable, I assure you," said Ambra. Alani ignored her and kept her attention on Ghalt instead.

"OK. I'm willing to let you try it," he said. "But Deande is right, this affects the Jennerit more than anyone else, so the final decision is hers."

Deande sat back in her chair, considering her options.

"Alright," she said finally. "I'll give you one chance. But as soon as I feel this going wrong, I'm sending in my soldiers."

Alani nodded. "You won't regret this, I promise."

There were a few final words, and soon after the participants in the meeting began leaving to attend to their own business. As she moved past, Thorn stopped and gave Alani a hard look.

"Uh, hey Thorn." Alani tried to think of something to say. "So...is it a good time to talk about book club?"

Thorn's eyes narrowed and Alani shrank back.

"Do not make the Eldrid look foolish, monk." With that warning, the ranger moved on.

Alani looked around the bridge. Only Ghalt and Reyna remained, and the latter didn't look like she planned on going anywhere soon.

"I'll, uh, I'll be ready to go. Let me know when we're close," Alani said, making her own exit.

As soon as Alani was out of the room, Reyna turned on Ghalt with a dangerous look in her eye.

"Trevor, give me the truth. Were you seriously considering just...eliminating Pendles along with this cult?"

"Of course not, but what I say can only go so far. My authority is limited to this ship and to the missions we handle as the Battleborn. I can't stop Deande from doing what she has to do on Tempest." Ghalt said.

Reyna shook her head and sighed. "So I guess we're back to the old Ghalt."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I brought some of the best the Rogues have to offer here," said Reyna. "And do you know why? It was because you finally saw that what the UPR and the LLC and everyone else was doing wasn't working. You had the guts to walk away from their crap and create something better."

"The Rogues are here because they followed you, Reyna. You're the one they believe in." Ghalt said.

"And I believe in you."

Reyna could tell Ghalt was surprised. He tensed up for a split second before easing back into his regular cool demeanor.

"Look, I...I promise that I'm doing everything I can to keep all of this together. And I promise that I'll do everything I can to get your guy out of there safely. I'll pull every string I have available. But there are a lot of things happening right now that I have no control over and lines that I don't have the right to cross."

Reyna sighed. "I guess that's the best I'm going to get then."

She got up and began walking towards the door. As she passed near Ghalt she stopped and turned to scrutinize him.

"You look tired," she said.

"I've, uh, just had a lot on my mind lately," he said.

"Huh. Well," she shrugged her shoulders, "if you ever need someone to talk to, someone who you know can keep their mouth shut, you know where to find me."

With that she playfully shoved him out of the way and left.


	3. The Reception

Tempest, with its tightly packed cities suspended high above its perpetually stormy surface, ranked as Alani's least favourite planet in what remained of the universe. The spot Nova was currently occupying was in the outskirts of one of these cities, and as Alani came down the gangway she could see the tall buildings and towers a little way off in the distance. Directly in front of her was the edge of a small grove of those creepy, leafless trees that seemed to grow so well here. Alani wasn't a fan of horror holo-dramas, but she had seen enough to know that plenty of them took place in spooky woods just like this. She hoped she wouldn't run into any of those Demon Bears Montana had told her about.

"Just ahead of you is the spot where we lost contact with Pendles," said Deande, speaking to Alani through the com set in her ear.

"There's a large area I'm not able to pick up any scans on." Nova added. "That's pretty weird, so you should probably go check it out."

"Alright, I'm on my way now." Alani took a deep breath and began to follow her map towards the anomaly. A winding path took her through the trees, and she kept her senses alert as she surfed along on the nano-tech infused water she summoned beneath her feet.

"Say," said Nova suddenly, "you don't suppose there are any of those adorable little Demon Bear cubs living in this grove, do you?"

Alani grit her teeth. "Shut. Up. Nova."

"What? There's no way that the Demon Bear was the _only_ Demon Bear. And if I were a Demon Bear I'd think that these woods would be the perfect place to set up a den."

Alani willed herself to move faster. The quicker she could get through the grove the better. She was focused on the path in front of her, and had the recent incident with the Deadeye sniper (and Thorn's less than constructive comments about it) not been so fresh in her mind, she might have missed the thin red laser cutting through the darkness of the woods.

Instead of a Deadeye, this time the culprit was a Stinger turret. Alani ducked behind a tree before the automated weapon sensed her presence. She took a slow, deep breath to steady her nerves, then peeked around the trunk and focused her eyes on a spot at the turret's base. As she concentrated, the water vapour in the surrounding air condensed and pooled together, and with a flick of her wrist she sent a powerful geyser erupting from the ground directly underneath the turret. The jet of water burst through some of the Stinger's protective armor, carrying some important looking pieces with it. The head of the turret began to erratically swing from side to side, searching in vain for the attacker, but it had already been heavily damaged. With a few more well aimed torrent projectiles, the Stinger lay in several pieces on the ground, soaking wet and shooting sparks from disconnected wires and mechanics.

"Alani? Are you alright?" Deande asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was just a Stinger turret," Alani said. "Somebody's trying to protect _something_ around here."

"Be careful, there could be more of them set up along the path."

Alani continued on at a slightly slower pace, keeping an eye out for anymore signs of turrets, snipers, or Minions. Eventually she broke through the other side and let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

"Hah! No Demon Bears. Sorry Nova."

"Oh well," said Nova. "Maybe you'll see one on the way back."

Alani groaned.

"Alani, you're almost at the edge of that dead zone we can't get any signals from," Deande said. "Can you tell us what you're seeing?"

"Yeah, sure." Alani responded, moving forward. "Um, so coming out of the trees the path heads up a pretty steep slope. I can't see much else beyond it yet, I'm going up now and-"

She cut herself off at the sight that suddenly loomed in front of her.

"Alani, what is it? What are you seeing?" Deande asked.

"It's a mansion," said Alani. "It's huge!"

Cresting the top of the slope, Alani could see that the path was blocked by a large metal gate a short distance ahead. Tall and ominous, it marked the boundary of a walled in estate on which a large Jennerit style mansion had been built. Yellowish light shone from rows of tall pointed arch windows which, on the ground floor, flanked a set of ornate doors that must have been at least ten feet tall. The walls of the building itself appeared to be made of a shiny black stone reminiscent of obsidian.

Alani approached the gate, but as she did so a loud, painful screeching sound blasted in her ear. She stumbled back, her hand coming to the side of her head.

"Ow! What was that?"

"That," said Deande, "was the answer to why Pendles hasn't been responding to any of the messages we've been sending him. There must be a communications jammer somewhere around that mansion. I have no doubt now that's where the cult is hiding out."

Alani felt now that it was all but confirmed that Pendles hadn't been trying to betray the Battleborn. The cult may have been purposely blocking him from calling for any help. Or maybe it was still possible that the cult's adulation for him was genuine and he just hadn't had a moment alone to slip out and make contact. Either way, Alani had a choice to make. She could consider this a successful reconnaissance mission, back down, and let Deande's troops take care of the rest of the job, or she could continue on alone, cut off from her only source for backup. She took a deep breath and steeled her nerves. She hadn't come this far just to run away. Besides, retreating now would mean she'd be going back through that creepy grove all by herself.

"Alright," she told Deande. "I'm going to see if I can find a way to get in. Then I'll either get to Pendles and get him out, or I'll try to take down the communications jammer so you can figure out what's going on in there."

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea," Deande said.

"You told me you were going to give me a chance, didn't you?" Alani reminded her.

Deande sighed. "I'll give you an hour."

"Two."

"An hour and a half."

"Deal. Wish me luck."

Alani pulled the com piece out of her ear and disconnected it. She slipped it into her pocket and approached the large gate, surveying her surroundings and trying to form some sort of strategy. The gate was too tall to climb over, and even if she could she would be dropping onto the wide, empty front lawn of the estate. If the cult had taken the time to set up Stinger turrets in the grove and had access to Minions, then undoubtedly they would have _someone_ on guard duty to spot trespassers.

She began taking a closer look at the gate, searching for a lock or a latch that could be broken. There didn't seem to be any structural weaknesses. Eventually her eyes fell upon a rectangular shape jutting from the wall just to the right of the gate itself. It looked like a mounted electrical box, and in its center was a large black button. Maybe that opened the gate?

Alani pushed the button and a buzzer sounded. Shortly thereafter, a gruff voice sounded from a speaker that she couldn't see.

"State your name and your business here. And if you're that traveling salesman we've told you before, we're not interested in any more refurbished robots!"

A hundred different lies raced through Alani's mind, but each one was checked by two problems. The first was that she had no idea what kind of lie would give her the best shot of getting through the door. The other was that she knew was a very bad liar anyway.

"I'm, uh, looking for someone," she said. "A friend of mine. His name's Pendles. Looks like a walking snake, wears lots of orange, says 'oi' a lot. Tell him Alani is here to see him."

"Hey, boss," this time the voice sounded muffled, as though whoever was speaking was leaning away from the microphone. "There's someone here who wants to see that assassin guy."

"Who?" Another voice asked.

"Says her name is Alani."

"Hang on, let me check and…wait, Augustus, you forgot to press the mute button you id-"

The voices were suddenly cut off, and Alani found herself waiting in silence. A few moments later, the one called Augustus came back over the speaker. "Uh, hang on, we're just going to ask Pendles if he really knows you. Can't be too careful, you know. I'll just put you on hold for a minute or two."

A generic soft-rock song began to play through the speaker and Alani was left to her own worries. If Pendles "refused" to see her, then something must surely be wrong. But in that case, she had already blown any cover she might have created for herself, and she would have no choice but to return to Nova and let Deande sic her troops on this place.

After a few minutes the music cut out and Augustus returned.

"Alright, you can come in. Someone will be there to meet you at the door."

With a loud, metallic groan the gate began to move aside, sliding sideways into a slot on the wall. Alani took a breath and stepped forward onto the estate. Once she had made it a few feet onto the property, she glanced back as the gate slid back out again and locked into place. There was no turning back now. She continued on and climbed the short set of stairs up the huge doors of the mansion. Each was fitted with an elaborate gold knocker. Alani grasped on of them and brought it down against the door twice, each time causing a boom she could hear echoing through the house. A few moments later the door opened and she found herself staring up at her host.

He was about a foot taller than her, with medium length black hair and dressed in the robes of a highborn Jennerit. He was also attempting a welcoming smile that looked unnatural and was giving Alani a major case of the creeps.

"Welcome, Ms. Alani," said the tall man. "My name is Dexion. Come in please."

Alani followed Dexion into the house and he began to lead her down a long corridor.

"We have been expecting some of Pendakka's... _associates_ to come calling on him. You will find that he is quite well."

Dexion was picking his words carefully, and it was making Alani nervous. They stopped at the only open door she had seen so far and he peeked his head into it. A giant thrall was sitting alone in the room, gazing up at a grid of holo-screens showing images from around the mansion.

"Everything alright in here, Augustus?" Dexion asked.

"Yes sir!" Augustus said, not bothering to turn his head. "The gate's locked back up and the jammer is online. Only problem is that turret."

"We'll have it fixed in the morning. Just keep an eye out."

"Aye aye!"

Dexion ducked back out of the room and closed the door behind him.

"So, you're the owner of the house?" Alani asked.

"Well, not quite," Dexion said. "We're renting."

"Uh huh. So that turret in the grove…"

"Was a pre-existing security measure," Dexion assured her. "If we had expected you to come so soon after we…er…after Pendles joined us, I would have made sure to have had it deactivated. Speaking of Pendles, he should be right through here."

Dexion led Alani through a set of double doors into a large living area. At the back of the room was a large panoramic glass window that looked out over the back of the estate. One wall was covered with shelves that held volumes of large, uniform reference books, and the others appeared to have once held artwork or portraits that had recently been removed. Sprawled out on a long, comfortable looking sofa was Pendles, casually watching a wrestling match in which one wrestler was stomping on a folding chair that had been placed over his opponent's leg.

 _"_ _Somebody has to stop this! Hijo del Phoenix is trying to end this young man's career just so he can get a match with a retired former champion-"_

The announcer's frantic shouts were silenced as Pendles switched off the holo-vid.

"Oi! Do you lot finally have those cards printed up or…Alani! Nice to see you, love!"

"Hello Pendles," Alani said. "Are you, um, alright?"

Just asking the question made Alani feel a little bit silly. He was obviously fine, standing there in front of her with a big dopey grin on his face. On the other hand, she didn't really think that a victim of a kidnapping should look this cheerful.

"Right as rain!" said Pendles. "A little bit tired, mind you. Been going non-stop with Dexion and his friends here. We've been making arrangements for new advertising opportunities on Tempest. I spent half the day on a photo shoot in the studio they've got downstairs."

"Right. So you were just so busy taking pictures that it never crossed your mind to give any of us a call to let us know that you were OK? You know, after the whole being carried off by a radical fringe group thing."

Pendles sheepishly scratched the back of his head with his artificial arm. "Well, you know how I get when I'm managing Executive Executions business. Everything else just sort of, er, slips the mind."

"And do you know what's being done with those pictures they took of you?" Alani crossed her arms.

"Well, we were going to print up some new business cards, and-"

Alani pulled a folded-up copy of the propaganda pamphlet out of her pocket and handed it to him. He looked at his own smiling face on the cover and began to flip through it, mumbling along with the words as he skimmed them.

"Interplanetary terrorist organization?" Pendles said out loud. "Oi, what's the big deal here? You told me these pictures were going to be for Executive Executions related advertising and promotions. That's breach of a verbal contract! Probably. I may have to get my attorneys involved!"

Dexion had moved to the wall with the bookshelves, where he had been idly running his index finger along their spines. At Pendles's threat of legal action, he turned back around to face them.

"I really must apologize." He said. "There are so many intricacies involved in what we're doing here. Deception is an occasional necessity, as you saw with our friend Adalric. Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed, Pendles. I thought at least a few of your Rogue associates would show up. No matter, the two of you will just have to do on your own."

Dexion had begun to ramble, speaking more to himself than to his so-called "guests." Suddenly Alani realized that Augustus had appeared while Dexion had been performing his little monologue, and the hulking thrall was blocking the room's only exit.

"What are you even talking about?" Alani asked uneasily.

Dexion looked her in the eyes and smiled at her. She noticed that he had very white teeth.

"We're looking to send a message to the…how did she put it? Interim Chief Counselor of the New Jennerit Empire? I know who you are, Pendakka and Alani. I know you're working for Deande. And I'm afraid you're not going to be leaving this room with your lives."


	4. The Message

For a moment Alani stood rooted to the spot. "How…how did you-"

"Oh please, girl, it's not like your little crew is a big secret or anything," Dexion said. "There were pictures of the Jennerit defectors all over Tempest. Not to mention UPR bulletins on deserters and space pirates. A few days of research is enough to learn the life stories of just about everyone on board that ship."

Alani's mind was racing. "Alright, so you know I work with Deande. If you kill me her soldiers will be here in no time."

"We're prepared for that eventuality," Dexion said.

"Wait a minute now," said Pendles. "Maybe you lot haven't heard, but Rendain's long gone. You're fighting a battle that's already been lost, mate."

Dexion laughed. "You two still think this is about Rendain? Kade was a tool, you idiots. We found him raving in the streets, talking about how the great High Commander would return to spare the loyal Jennerit from the destruction of the universe. So, I thought he might be useful. I convinced him that my people shared his views. That there were more like us all across Tempest. We spent months trying to legitimize Adalric. We taught him how to connect with a crowd and gave him the platform to do so. And then, when he was about to have his biggest moment, one bullet from a Deadeye would bring it all crashing down."

"Then, the sniper in the tower at the rally," Alani said. "It wasn't there for security?"

Dexion shook his head. "We hadn't planned on intervention from the Battleborn, but it in the long run it opened up another golden opportunity, didn't it?"

"This doesn't make any sense! If this isn't about Rendain, then what is it about?"

"It's _about_ the Jennerit people!" Dexion said, losing his calm demeanor. "It's about the people finally taking leadership for themselves!"

Alani crossed her arms. "And that's your idea of leading your people? Dragging the ones you don't agree with off the street and setting them up to be murdered?"

Dexion sighed. "I wouldn't expect you to understand the sacrifices I have to make. What was the name of the planet you're from?"

"Akopos."

"Ah yes. The one that was boiled by the Silent Sisters. And yet you joined up with the Battleborn knowing that the woman who killed every living thing on your planet was a fully accepted member. I believe your Captain granted her a full pardon for her war crimes, did he not?"

Alani flinched. "Rendain ordered-"

"Ah, that old excuse," Dexion chuckled. "'Lothar Rendain, the tyrant that destroyed the Jennerit's good name!' The truth is that the Jennerit have been ruled by tyrants for millennia. Your friends Deande and Rath were the tools of one. Our _beloved_ Empress Lenore did not rule for over ten thousand years without taking the lives of a few dissenters along the way. Did the Empress ever condemn slavery? Or the fighting pits? No."

A loud crash from the side of the room caused both Alani and Pendles to jump. Augustus had upended one of the bookshelves and used it to barricade the door shut, cutting them off from the only exit.

"Your deaths will bring a new hope to the Jennerit. The thralls, the slaves, and the non-Sustained will see that nothing can stand in their way! Not Rendain! Not the Battleborn! And not some treacherous former spymistress and her scraps from a dead regime!"

"Right then! I think I've heard enough!" Pendles said. "Next time you see me, I'll be ripping your spinal column out of your back!"

He reached into one of his hidden pockets and, in a literal flash, threw down one of his trademark smoke bombs.

"Ow!" Alani complained, rubbing her eyes. "How about a little warning next time!"

As her vision cleared, she saw that something wasn't right. Namely the fact that Pendles was still standing right where he was, clearly visible to the rest of the room's occupants.

"Erm, well that didn't quite go as planned." Pendles said, chuckling nervously.

Dexion pointed up into the corner of the room behind them, where a small security camera was perched high on the wall.

"We had the security updated once we decided to keep you on as a guest, Pendles." Dexion said. "The LLC has some shockingly reasonable deals on anti-cloaking devices. Hooks right into the regular security system."

"Well then," Pendles said, trying to put the cocky tone back into his voice. "Guess I'll just have to do this the old fash-"

Augustus's huge fist slammed into the side of Pendles's head, sending the Roa flying backwards until he landed in a heap.

"Pendles!" Alani cried out. Augustus turned his attention to her, and she had to duck out of the way as he threw a punch in her direction. She steadied herself, concentrated, and threw out a riptide wave that forced the angry thrall back a few feet. Having created some distance between herself and her attacker, she stayed alert for his next move.

"You have some impressive skills," Dexion said. Alani tried to look in his direction, but he was mostly obscured by Augustus's wide form. "I'm sure the people of Akopos would appreciate how you're using them to defend the killers who slaughtered them all."

"Shut up!" Alani yelled. Too late she realized the distraction. Augustus was charging her, and she didn't have a chance to try to block or sidestep him. He crashed into her with his full bodyweight, driving the air out of her lungs (and she'd just been starting to feel like she'd gotten used to using those again, too). He scooped her up into his arms and then slammed her hard into the wall, where she dropped to the floor in a daze. She looked up to see Augustus standing over her, his right arm raised for one last blow.

"Oi, big guy! It's not like I need to cloak if you're just going to ignore me anyway!"

Pendles had somehow managed to jump up on Augustus's back. He coiled his long organic arm around the thrall's neck, and in his prosthetic hand he held a single throwing star, which he promptly jammed into Augustus's eye socket. The thrall howled and thrashed, trying to dislodge his assailant.

"Pendles…get back!" Alani called out through gasping breaths. Pendles glanced at her, then noticed the pool of water that had begun swirling beneath Augustus's feet. He let go and moved away just a geyser pushed Augustus into the air. The pressure was enough to send him crashing into the ceiling before he fell back face down on the floor. With their opponent off of his feet for the first time since the fight began, Pendles wasted no time pouncing on him, finally cutting deep into his neck with poison infused kamas.

Alani leaned back against the wall, using it for leverage as she forced herself back up to a vertical base. While Pendles made sure Augustus was dead, she turned her attention back to Dexion, whose face betrayed a slight look of sadness at the fate of his lieutenant.

"You can still give up." Alani said.

The rebel simply shook his head. "Augustus was a good friend to me, and loyal to our cause. I will not allow his death to be meaningless."

"Want to bet on that?" Pendles said. He started to move towards Dexion, but stopped when Alani put a hand on his shoulder to hold him back.

"You want to know why I joined the Battleborn?" she asked. "I haven't forgotten what Ambra did. I wear this to remind myself every day." She pointed to the red sash tied at her waist. "But there was a bigger fight out there. Solus is the last chance we've got to save the universe from the Varelsi, and when that history is written I want everyone to know that Akopos was a part of it."

"And then what?" Dexion sighed. "If you defeat the Varelsi, where do you go from there? Do you think Deande and her underlings will remember you while they take over the Empire? Do you think your Rogue assassin friend here won't stab you in the back if the price is right? Whatever union has been achieved between the factions will crumble and you will have no home to go back to. And the moment you die, the memory of Akopos dies with you, girl."

Pendles felt Alani's grip on his shoulder tighten. She didn't want to show it, but Pendles knew her better than just about anyone, and he knew that Dexion had managed to hit on several of her insecurities.

"The only ones dying here today are you and your thrall friend, mate," Pendles said. "And since the job is already halfway done, why don't we just get it over with right now?"

"I am not afraid of death," said Dexion, his right hand reaching under his robe. From an inner pocket he removed a small handheld device. "I am not a coward like the Sustained. Death serves a purpose. And our deaths will serve a great purpose!"

"Pendles," Alani whispered into the assassin's ear.

"Yes love?"

"Is it just me, or does that thing look an awful lot like that detonator Ernest uses for his explosive charges?"

"So it does."

Both Battleborn let their eyes roam around the room, searching desperately for an exit. The only door out was still blocked by the toppled bookcase. Even if they could have gotten out, they probably wouldn't be able to escape the mansion before Dexion triggered whatever trap he had set up.

"There _are_ people like me all over Tempest!" Dexion continued. "Capable leaders who do not require the crutch of Sustainment! They will tell of what happened here!"

Pendles heard Alani take a slow, deep breath.

"Pendles," she said, "hold on to me. And whatever you do don't let go."

"What?"

"Just do it. I have an idea."

Pendles curled his long arm around her waist. Meanwhile, Dexion was reaching the climax of his speech.

"The Sustained are destined to fall, and my name will be lauded by the new order of the Jennerit for years to come! I am an inspiration to the masses!"

With two fingers, he pulled the trigger.

"I die for the people!"

A series of explosions sounded as Alani summoned a Riptide wave in the direction of the window that looked over the back of the estate. Pulling Pendles along with her, she rode her wave as it crashed up against the glass. She closed her eyes as she slammed herself against it, feeling shards cutting at her skin as it shattered against the combined force of the water and her own body. Behind her she felt an intense heat coming up fast. Then, for a few moments, she was falling through the air. She hit the ground on her side and felt a sharp pain stab its way up her arm. As she reached around to clutch at the injury, she suddenly realized that she had lost Pendles somewhere along the way. Had he been knocked loose by the force of the impact against the ground? Had he even made it out of the window with her?

Alani scrambled to her feet and turned to look back at the house. The entire structure was engulfed in flames, and the heat that radiated from it was oppressive. She looked back and forth, trying to find the form of the Roa laying somewhere in the yard.

"PEN-"

Her attempt to call out his name was cut short by a final, massive explosion that destroyed the rear wall of the mansion. Something large and heavy collided with the side of her head, and she dropped to the ground, unconscious.


	5. The Inner Echoes

_Alani shut her eyes, feeling weightless as she let herself be submerged in the water of Nova's isolation tank. It had been too long since she had had a chance for a long meditation period, and this was the only place where she was going to get some alone time. She relaxed her muscles and steadied her breathing, distancing herself from the ambient noise of her surroundings. Then she heard the door behind her open. Her concentration broke and she spun around with a frustrated grunt, expecting to see Kleese making the rounds of ship maintenance, or maybe Captain Ghalt coming to assign her to a new mission. Whatever chastisement she had prepared died in her throat as she took in the person who had actually come to visit her._

 _Ambra._

 _The Silent Sister glided further into the room, approaching the side of the tank. Alani usually took every precaution possible to avoid meeting Ambra anywhere outside of so-called "work hours," and she had always figured that Ambra did the same. But here she was, barging right in like she owned the ship._

 _Alani finally found her voice again. "What are you doing here?"_

 _The priestess remained quiet, and her demeanor was beginning to make Alani uneasy. Ambra reached the tank and locked eyes with the monk. Then she began to raise her staff. The end was glowing a hot orange colour as the tip made contact with the tank, and Alani felt the temperature of the water begin to rise unnaturally quickly. Within seconds it was frothing and boiling, and somehow she couldn't seem to find the way out._

 _"Ambra stop! Why are you doing this? AMBRA!"_

Alani awoke with a start. She wasn't in her tank, and Ambra was nowhere to be found. Still, something didn't feel right. Her head was pounding, and the bright lights reflecting off the white walls of the room she was in weren't mitigating the pain at all. Her muscles ached as she attempted to sit up, and the effort caused spots to form in front of her eyes.

"Oh. You're awake already. I wasn't expecting that," someone said matter-of-factly. Somewhere through the haze of her mind Alani recognized the partially synthesized voice of Beatrix, the Jennerit scientist and physician. "Just settle back down and I'll give you a sedative."

Alani tried to raise a hand to her head, and it was then that she noticed the pair of tubes sticking out of her arm. Two liquid streams were visibly flowing through them, one clear like an IV drip, the other red like blood. It seemed odd, however, that the liquids were flowing _away_ from her arm. The monk's bleary eyes worked their way up the tubes, to where the blood and the clear liquid were being deposited into a row of sterile test tubes. Beatrix quickly stepped into her line of sight, blocking her view of the equipment. The red glow from her artificial eye intensified both Alani's headache her growing sense of panic.

"Ah ha," Beatrix said. "Nothing to see here. Now just lay back down and- EEP!"

Beatrix jumped back, avoiding a splash of blood and nanotech infused water as Alani tore the tubes out of her arm.

"What are you doing to me?" Alani gasped. She climbed out of the bed but quickly fell to her knees as the room seemed to spin around her.

"Look," Beatrix tried to explain. "You're in the med bay. You got hurt. I'm just taking some samples. You know, just to test that you're..um…getting better."

She took a step forward, but Alani launched upwards and shoved her back with both hands. The move was unexpected, and Beatrix stumbled backwards into the cart that held the samples, which tumbled over and smashed against the floor.

"Why you-" Beatrix sputtered. "Do you have any idea what I could have learned from those samples! Now I'll have to start over and- hey! Where are you going?"

Alani had pulled herself to her feet and was limping her way over to the door of the med bay.

"You can't leave! You're in no condition to be moving around the ship! Hey! At least take your post-visit candy!" Beatrix called after her. Alani ignored her and pushed through the doors into the hallway.

Beatrix sighed and unwrapped a lollipop. "Oh well, more for me."

Moving around so soon after whatever it was that had put her in the med bay (Alani suddenly realized that she couldn't remember what had happened) was definitely a bad idea. But if it got her away from Beatrix, it was worth it. She picked a random door along the hall and shouldered her way past it, not really sure of where she was going. Her legs felt weak, her equilibrium was off, and a white aura was dancing around the edges of her vision. Beatrix had said something about sedatives? Alani wasn't sure what was being caused by her mystery injury and what was being caused by any drugs Beatrix may have been pumping into her.

In any case, it seemed like she could add hallucinations to her list of symptoms. There in front of her, inside the room she had just forced her way into, she saw Orendi and Attikus sitting across from each other at a small card table. Some sort of game board was set up on the table, and Orendi was standing on her chair staring at it intently. One of her hands held a small plastic game piece, one was cupping her chin thoughtfully, and the other two were on her hips.

Attikus groaned and looked up from the rulebook he had been reading. "Come on and make a move already! You've been standing there for twenty minutes now!"

"HEY!" Orendi shouted, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO DISTRACT ME WHILE I WAS STRATEGIZING!"

Alani took a few more steps towards them before her legs gave out again. She fell forward into the table, scattering the game pieces. Apparently it wasn't a hallucination after all.

"YAAAAY! ALANI WINS!" Orendi cheered.

"What?" Attikus said. "She's not even playing the game!"

"Casa de Orendi house rules! Whoever overturns the board first wins the game!"

Attikus groaned again, then noticed that Alani hadn't gotten up yet.

"Hey," he asked, "are you alright? Should I call-"

"I won't go back. Not to her." Alani said through choking breaths.

"Back to who?"

"Beatrix. She was doing…something to me. I don't know what but there were test tubes and blood and…" Alani trailed off. She had started shaking.

"Oh she was, was she?" Attikus said. "Looks like I'll have to have another little talk with 'er then."

Alani felt the gargantuan thrall lift her up by her shoulders and move her on to his seat. She faintly wondered how the small chair had managed to hold up under his weight.

"Now you just wait here and calm yourself down," Attikus told her. "I'll deal with Beatrix."

"OOH! OOH!" Orendi scrambled up Attikus's back and held on to him by his horns. "CAN I COME TOO? I WANNA WATCH! AND MAYBE SET BEATRIX ON FIRE FOR TRYING TO CUT MY EYE OUT THAT ONE TIME!"

"Fine, fine. It'll do Alani good to have some peace and quiet. Just don't get in my way too much."

Attikus lumbered out of the room with Orendi on his shoulders. Alani took a few deep breaths and tried to calm herself down like he had suggested. Her head was hurting even worse than before.

As she sat trying to get her bearings, sudden flashes of memory came rushing back. A thrall dead on the floor in front of her. A tall Jennerit man with a sad look in his eyes. She had gone in alone to that house on Tempest, working under Deande's orders.

 _"…_ _some treacherous former spymistress and her scraps from a dead regime."_

She had helped stop a plot against Deande's interim Jennerit government. There was an explosion. That must have caused her injuries. Then it was probably Deande who had handed her over to Beatrix.

 _"_ _Do you think Deande and her underlings will remember you while they take over the Empire?"_

So that was how Deande showed appreciation for her efforts? By passing her off to be used as one of Beatrix's experiments?

Alani forced herself to get up from the chair and went back to the hallway. Maybe if she could just find her way to her isolation tank, she could meditate for awhile and find the strength to heal herself. She continued along in the same direction she had been traveling after leaving the med bay. She'd have to get to Nova's lower deck to find her tank. Yet another unpleasant feeling, fatigue, was starting to close in on her. That was OK. She could rest in the tank.

 _"…_ _you joined up with the Battleborn knowing that the woman who killed every living thing on your planet was a fully accepted member."_

The memory of her dream from just a few minutes ago came back now. How real it had all felt, being boiled alive like the rest of her people.

 _"_ _You have some impressive skills, I'm sure the people of Akopos would appreciate how you're using them to defend the killers who slaughtered them all."_

Why couldn't she stop these thoughts? Dexion, she remembered his name now, had just been trying to distract her during the fight. Get into her head. But in a way, he was right. She had been working directly under Deande's orders. Deande, who had been Rendain's right hand during the destruction of Akopos.

Alani suddenly realized that she wasn't going to make it. She was nowhere close to her tank and she was just tiring herself more and more, mentally and physically. She couldn't walk straight or think straight. She needed to find a place to sit and rest again. She made for the next door on the right side of the hallway. This one slid open automatically to reveal the mess hall, along with a good number of the Battleborn sitting down to their dinners.

Most of the UPR was there, sitting together at a table near the centre of the room. Oscar Mike and Montana. Galilea, the fellow Helician who wouldn't give her the time of day. Benedict, the loud mouth who had tried to turn everyone on Pendles during the meeting.

Pendles! _He_ had been the real reason she'd gone to that mansion on Tempest. It had been a rescue mission. And now she was back on Nova, so where was he? Alani looked around. Thorn and Boldur sat across from each other at the farthest side of the room. Boldur held a large stein in his hand that probably contained something with a very high alcohol content. And Thorn…

 _"You? You can't even wear a pair of pants properly."_

Thorn hadn't believed in her at all. Alani had wanted to prove her wrong, to show her that she could bring back the missing member of the team alive and well.

"Alani?"

Someone beside her laid a hand on her shoulder. She jerked away and fell back against the wall.

"Hey, easy love. It's just me." Alani looked up. Pendles was standing in front of her, his gaze traveling down to the stream of blood trickling from the wound in her arm where she had pulled out the tubes.

 _"_ _Do you think your Rogue assassin friend here won't stab you in the back if the price is right?"_

This was his fault. If he hadn't gone and got himself kidnapped, and then not bothered to try to contact anyone, she wouldn't be in this state. She wouldn't have had to go save him. She wouldn't have had to try to prove herself to the rest of the Battleborn. She wouldn't have ended up crashing through the window of an exploding building to escape a madman. She wouldn't have wound up on Beatrix's operating table like some kind of lab rat.

"What…what happened to your arm?"

"What do you care?" She snapped. "All you care about is yourself!"

"Oh come on. That's not…entirely true…" Pendles said. He had been taken off guard by Alani's uncharacteristic outburst, and was aware of the numerous sets of eyes that were turning towards the sudden commotion.

"I was defending you! I came to find you because I thought you were-" Alani cut herself off. The pain in her head was growing again. Tears were welling up in her eyes.

"Hey, come on, I-" he tried to reach for her, but again she pulled away from him.

"You don't care," she shook her head. "You were smiling and taking pictures for them. It was all a big joke to you, wasn't it? You don't care about being part of the Battleborn! You never cared about our planet! About what they did to us! You don't care about me! And I…I…I think I'm going to be sick…"

"Oi, Nova!" Pendles called as Alani tried weakly to push past him. "We need to get Beatrix up here, now!"

"Erm, about that," came Nova's voice. "Beatrix seems to be unavailable at the moment..."

Alani had lost any focus on she'd had on her surroundings. She took a few steps towards an empty table, trying to find a spot to sit down.

 _"…_ _you will have no home to go back to. And the moment you die, the memory of Akopos dies with you…"_

"My head hurts," she said, then dropped to the ground.


	6. Respect

The next time Alani woke up, she recognized Nova's med bay straight away. This time there had been no dreams and her mind felt much clearer, even if her head was still a little bit sore. It also took her much less time to realize that there was someone in the room with her, hunched in a chair at her side.

"Captain?"

Ghalt gave a start and sat up straight, pulled from the doze he had been drifting into.

"Oh. Hey Alani. You're awake."

Alani slowly sat up in her bed. "Yeah, I'm awake. Um, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I heard about what happened in the mess hall."

"The mess hall?" Alani thought for a moment.

Oh no.

She remembered stumbling her way through the ship and winding up in the mess hall. All the horrible thoughts that she couldn't escape from. Then she'd been confronted by Pendles, made a scene in front of everyone by yelling at him, and passed out in the middle of the floor.

She clutched her blanket tight. "Are…you going to fire me?"

Ghalt gave her a blank look. "What?"

"I'm sorry!" Alani said. "I know I made a scene! I'm so embarrassed! I shouldn't have done that in front everyone! It goes against every tenet I've ever been taught and-"

"Wait! Wait! Hold on!" Ghalt interrupted. "I'm not going to fire you! If I didn't kick Attikus and Orendi out for ripping off Beatrix's arm , what makes you think I'm going to fire you?"

Alani relaxed and gave a small shrug. "Oh. I guess I just…wait they did what to Beatrix?"

Ghalt sighed. "Apparently they didn't take very kindly to her experiment on you. Attikus tore Professor out of it's socket and they blew it out of the airlock. Beatrix is out searching for it now."

"Oh."

"Anyway, I'm not going to judge you for something you said while you were full of sedatives and suffering from a concussion."

"Right. OK. Thanks." Alani said. She felt very awkward. It had been a long time since she had had a one on one conversation with Ghalt. "Um, can I ask you something, Captain?"

"Of course."

"What exactly happened after the explosion at the mansion? My memory is kind of broken up right now."

"Well according to Pendles, you pulled him through the window just before Dexion blew the place up. The explosion killed Dexion and destroyed the communications jammer that had been built into the house, and Pendles used your com to call Nova to come pick you up. You'd taken a pretty nasty shot to the head from some debris, so Deande had you taken to med bay straight away. I think you know the rest."

"Well then," Alani said, flashing a fake smile at Ghalt. "I'm glad everything turned out right."

Ghalt wasn't fooled. "Are you sure you're OK? You can talk to me. You know, if you want to."

Alani laid back against her pillow. Maybe she did need to talk, but how much did she want to say?

"I think I'll be alright," she said, measuring her words carefully. "It's just that when I was in the mansion, Dexion said a few things that sort of stuck with me."

Ghalt waited for her to organize her thoughts some more. Eventually she turned and looked directly into his eyes.

"Captain, do you think we're ever going to defeat the Varelsi?"

That was a question Ghalt had asked himself quite a few times. Had anyone else asked him, the standard answer would have been a resounding positive, if only to keep up the morale of his crew. But there was something about the way Alani was looking at him that made him give her an honest answer. The answer he felt she deserved.

"Truthfully, I don't know. It may take every last ounce of strength from every living person in the universe. But if I didn't think it was possible I wouldn't have formed the Battleborn."

Alani nodded. "I think it's possible too. Which is why I've been wondering, where will I go when it's over? Akopos is gone for good, and sometimes…well I don't really think there's anyone else who's going to want me."

"Hey," Ghalt smiled, "I don't think you have to worry about that. You should hear how Thorn and Boldur have been bragging about you. Heck, if you want I'll recommend you for the UPR. I'm sure they'd count themselves damn lucky to have someone like you in their ranks."

"Psh. Yeah right!"

Reyna was standing in the doorway of the med bay with her arms crossed. She walked into the room and sat down on the edge of Alani's bed, grinning over at Ghalt.

"Sorry to interrupt, but trust me, you don't want to sign yourself over to a bunch of glorified scout troops. You saved Pendles's life back on Tempest, and in my eyes, that makes you one of the Rogues."

"Scout troops?" Ghalt scoffed. "People enlist with the Peacekeepers because they want to make a difference."

"A girl like Alani needs her peace and quiet," Reyna said. "She won't have any time for meditation with a bunch of loudmouths like Benedict and Oscar Mike running around. And don't get me started on Ernest's drills. Trust me Alani, you'd be much happier out with us in the Detritus Ring."

"So, do I have to choose right now?" Alani asked. "I mean, there's still probably a lot of work to do before we're finished as the Battleborn."

Reyna chuckled lightly. "Sorry. I was just teasing Ghalt a little bit. But I'm serious. You did the Rogues a huge solid, and if there's ever anything you need from us, all you have to do is say the word."

Alani smiled up at her. "Thanks Reyna. That means a lot."

"Alright then," Ghalt said, getting up from his seat beside the bed. "Get some rest Alani. I'll let Miko know you're awake when I see them. Reyna, I think we'd better go have a talk with Attikus and Orendi about getting this Beatrix situation under control."

"Sure," Reyna replied, then stopped herself. "Oh! That's right, I almost forgot."

She reached into her leather jacket and withdrew a small envelope, handing it over to Alani. The monk accepted it and turned it over in her hands.

"What's this?" she asked.

"An invitation," said Reyna. "Orendi wants you to come to her next board game night. Apparently, you've somehow managed to become the reigning champion or something."

"I'm…invited?"

Reyna nodded. "Yeah. I know Orendi gets kind of, you know, bitey. If you don't want to go just-"

"I…I've never been invited to anything!" Alani said, tearing up. She opened the invitation. The time and date of the event were there in Orendi's (surprisingly neat) handwriting. "Wow. This is amazing! I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

"Right," Reyna said, letting the syllable hang as she eyed Ghalt, who just shrugged.

The Rogue leader and the Captain of the Battleborn gave Alani their final goodbyes and well-wishes, promising to check on her again soon. Alani carefully placed the invitation on her bedside table and settled back, closing her eyes again. She didn't know how long it was exactly, but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes before she opened them again, aware of yet another presence in the room with her. Sitting beside her in the chair Ghalt had been occupying was Pendles, who quickly cleared his throat when he noticed her watching him.

"Um, hi," he said.

"Hi Pendles," Alani replied. "I'm glad to see you made it out of the mansion alright."

"Yeah. Thanks to you." He scratched the back of his head. "Look, I'm not really used to having to say things like this. But I really do owe you one."

"So what? You've come to offer me a coupon for a free assassination?"

"No, I don't really think that's your style. I mean, if you have someone in mind I'll happily oblige, but-"

Alani shook her head. "No, you're right. I think I've had enough of that sort of thing for a while. Besides, we're friends, right? What's friendship without pulling each other out of the fire every once in a while?"

Pendles chuckled. "I'm not really used to having friends either. First I turn down a big payday to turn on the Rogues, then I have to get rescued from a cult by a monk. I must be going soft."

They sat in silence for a moment, but Alani could feel that it was uncomfortable. There was still an awkward tension between them that needed to be broken.

"Hey Pendles," she said. "About what I said in the mess hall before I, you know, passed out…I didn't mean any of it. I was hurt and confused and angry. I lost control of myself and lashed out. I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about, love," said Pendles. "Honestly there was a point not too long ago when I would have agreed with everything you said and been proud of it."

"But the end of the universe has a way of changing your perspective on things, doesn't it?"

"No, I don't think it was that so much as all of…" he waved his hand around to indicate everything around him. "…this."

"Yeah," Alani nodded. "That too."

They sat together quietly for a little while longer, though this time the atmosphere was much more agreeable. Eventually Miko arrived to give Alani a full check up.

"We had to cut our vacation short," the sentient fungus explained. "We should have seen it coming. Beatrix should not be trusted."

Miko declared that Alani was recovering well, and prescribed nothing but a bit of bedrest for her. They ushered Pendles out, turning out the lights and insisting that their patient was going to be taken care of _properly_ this time. She didn't bother to explain that she had been trying to get some rest for a while. Besides, it had been nice to know that her efforts had been appreciated by some of her fellow Battleborn.

"Hello Alani."

Deande seemed to simply materialize from the darkness in the far corner of the room, making Alani jump.

"OK, I appreciate everyone coming to see me, but why do you all keep sneaking up on me like this?"

"Sorry," Deande said. "I was waiting until I could speak with you alone."

"Yeah right. I'm pretty sure Nova's always listening to everything," Alani said.

"I can assure you I keep everything I see and hear completely confidential," Nova piped up. "I resent any implication that- ooh ooh, hang on! Kleese is trying to clip his toenails in the bathtub again! Last time he fell over like five times! I've gotta see this! I'll get back to you two later!"

"Er, right." Deande said, trying to get _that_ particular image out of her mind. "So, Alani, how are you feeling?"

"Tired."

Deande took the seat beside the bed. "That's understandable. I won't be long. Um, do you want the gratitude first or the apology?"

"Huh?"

"The apology is for Beatrix," Deande said. "I asked her to look after you after the incident at the mansion. I didn't expect her to take the liberties that she did."

"Yeah, well, apparently she has a history of taking _liberties._ "

"Yes. Apparently. And I promise I'll be talking to her about it."

Alani remained silent at that. She had been avoiding eye contact with the spymistress, and Deande decided that it would be best if she changed the tone of the conversation.

"So, on to the gratitude," Deande said, trying to make herself sound cheerful. "I have something for you."

She reached into her jacket and produced a small giftbox from her pocket, then handed it over to Alani. The monk turned the box over in her hand, examining it before opening the lid and peering inside. Tucked into the black velvet lining was an expensive looking pin. It was circular in shape. A large red triangle rose out of the centre, with a smaller inverted black triangle inside of it. Two more inverted red triangles flanked the large centre one, positioned near the top. It was the traditional Jennerit insignia, painstakingly crafted onto a beautiful piece of jewelry.

"I wanted a way to show you how much I appreciate what you did." Deande explained. "I've been thinking of instating a sort of official honour for the allies of the New Jennerit Empire. Something that can be bestowed upon anyone without a thought about their race or their class, but based on their merit alone."

Alani shook her head. "I can't accept this."

"I insist," Deande smiled. "Your actions on Tempest were courageous and commendable."

"No, Deande," Alani said. "I'm not just being humble. I _won't_ accept this. I didn't go to that mansion for the Jennerit. I did for the Battleborn and I did it to help Pendles. I didn't do it to be 'honoured' by the people that destroyed my home."

She pressed the pin back into Deande's hand. The spymistress winced, embarrassed.

"Oh. Well. I suppose…I just thought that…"

"You thought what?" Alani sighed. "That I would wear that pin proudly? When Ambra can boil my people alive without a second thought then mutiny over a dog? When Beatrix experiments on her own allies without their consent? You thought I would be honoured by this?"

Alani was still refusing to look at her, so instead Deande stared at the pin in her hand, trying to think of something else to say. Rendain had done so much damage. Was there any way to even begin to set it right? She closed the box and tucked it back into her jacket, then pushed her chair back and got up.

"I'm sorry. I didn't intend to offend you. I'll just…go now."

She made it halfway to door before Alani suddenly called out to her.

"Deande, wait!"

Deande stopped and turned around slowly, eyeing Alani warily.

"Look, I know you're doing your best. I know you're trying to make things better. That's why we all joined with Captain Ghalt and the Battleborn, right?"

Deande nodded slowly, and Alani continued.

"Once me and Pendles are gone, there isn't going to be anything left of Akopos. But you're Sustained. And as long as we can protect Solus, you're going to be around for a long time. So I guess what I'm saying is if you really want to honour me…just…promise me you won't forget, OK. Don't forget Akopos."

Deande approached with a solemn look on her face. She reached out and took Alani's hand without hesitation, looking straight into her eyes.

"I promise. I won't forget."

Alani let her mouth curve up into a half smile. "Thank you."

Deande gave a short nod, then quietly released her hand left the room.

Alani lay back and let out a deep breath. The med bay was finally silent, and she realized how long it had been since she had had a chance to be alone. She stared at the ceiling for a little while, feeling completely exhausted; mentally, physically, and emotionally. What had started as a simple mission and a desire to prove her worth had ended up forcing her to face the most painful parts of her past and every fear for her future. But as she began to fall back to sleep, finally getting the rest she so desperately needed, she realized that she had achieved at least some level of peace. She was always going to have regrets, and with the universe at stake there were always going to be some tough decisions to come. She had lost so much, but she had gained something along with it. For the first time, she knew that she had secured the true respect of her comrades. And that she deserved it.


End file.
